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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27965594">Zuko Goes to a Party</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/missobsessed22/pseuds/missobsessed22'>missobsessed22</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NKNovak/pseuds/NKNovak'>NKNovak</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Fire Siblings go Places [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Bending (Avatar TV), Avatar Universe, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:00:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,479</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27965594</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/missobsessed22/pseuds/missobsessed22, https://archiveofourown.org/users/NKNovak/pseuds/NKNovak</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko goes to a party. To his surprise, he has a lot of fun and may want to go to more parties.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Fire Siblings go Places [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2049429</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Zuko Goes to a Party</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story takes place in a modern version of the Avatar Universe in that the four nations exist but the city, as it is referred to, was created by me. The city is like a mix of Republic City (from LOK) and Manhattan (from New York).</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Zuzu” </p><p>Zuko closed his locker and turned to see Azula. </p><p>“It’s been a while.”</p><p>“It has,” Zuko nodded, snapping the lock closed. Before Azula started high school two weeks ago the siblings didn’t see each other much, since Zuko lived with his uncle and Azula stayed with their father. Even in high school, the siblings didn’t run into each other, Azula being a freshman and Zuko a junior. “What do you want?”</p><p>“There’s a soccer game this week. Why don’t you come to the game with Mai and I?” Azula asked.</p><p>“I don’t really care about the school’s sports,” Zuko replied.</p><p>“I don’t care about sports either, but Ty Lee’s cheer squad is going to be doing a routine,” Mai said. </p><p>“C’mon, Zuko! It'll be fun!” Ty Lee added, smiling.</p><p>The bell rang signaling everyone had to get to class. </p><p>“Listen, you can either sulk at uncles or you can have fun for once in your life, your choice,” Azula said before she walked away, Mai and Ty Lee with her.</p><p>Zuko thought about the offer all through his next few classes and decided he may as well. Their uncle was always trying to get Zuko to go out and do things on the weekend instead of helping at the tea shop (no matter how much he appreciated the help). He texted Azula.</p><p> </p><p>Azula and Mai arrived early and saved a spot at the front of the bleachers right next to Mai for Zuko. “I didn’t think you’d actually come,” Mai said, looking happy that he did.</p><p>“Yeah, I got time off work so I figured I may as well.” Zuko said, taking a seat “Plus if I’m going to hang out with anyone it’s going to be you two.”</p><p>The game started. To his surprise, Zuko found himself interested in the game, excited when the Caldera High Dragons were leading. Unfortunately, the team the Dragons played was notoriously far and away the best in the league, so Caldera lost but it was still a great game watching the Dragons actually give the other team a run for their money. </p><p> </p><p>After the game, Ty Lee bounced up the stairs to her friends. “How did that look? Were the routines sloppy at all?” she asked the group, not one bit concerned about the game.</p><p>“You did great,” Mai said. </p><p>“Those other girls are holding you back,” Azula said, which is about the closest Azula has ever come to giving someone a compliment.</p><p>“You mean it, Azula?” Ty Lee asked.</p><p>“I never say anything I don’t mean.”</p><p>“You guys are the best” Ty Lee pulling both reluctant girls into a hug.</p><p>“You must be hungry after all you're cheering,” Zuko said.</p><p>“I am. Why don’t we go to that pizza place not far from here?”</p><p>“Sounds good to me,” Mai agreed.</p><p> </p><p>The four went for pizza, it was pretty busy so Mai and Zuko saved an outside table for four while Ty Lee and Azula got everyone’s food. </p><p>As Ty Lee and Azula sat down at the table they heard a voice down the block call out “Hey Ty Lee!” They turned to see a bunch of the soccer players walking down the street talking and one of them jogged over to their table, “you did great today, you and the cheerleaders really motivated the team”</p><p>“Thanks, Sokka. You guys did amazing, keep it up and you’ll win every game in the future!”</p><p>“Thanks! I’ll catch you later,” Sokka said before the soccer players disappeared into the pizzeria.</p><p>Azula immediately turned to Ty Lee “If that jock boy ever bothers you, I will break his kneecaps for you.”</p><p>“No, no, you don’t have to worry about Sokka. I mean, some of those soccer players creep on cheerleaders but he’s one of the nice ones.”</p><p>“Okay, but my offer stands indefinitely with all of them.”</p><p>“Thanks, Azula!”</p><p>“If you’re done trying to woo Ty Lee can we please talk about our science project?” Mai asked as she took a bit of her pizza.</p><p>Ty Lee laughed at the comment and the three started to talk about their group project. Zuko, having already done the project in his freshman year and got feedback, gave them a few helpful suggestions so they could get an A instead of an A- as he did.</p><p> </p><p>The group chatted for another half hour after eating until Zuko had to go, and so the three girls went in one direction and Zuko went the other back to the Jasmine Dragon tea house to see if his Uncle needed help.</p><p>When he walked in, he smiled at Toph and Badge. “Hey, Toph.”</p><p>“Hey, Zuko,” Toph replied. “I was wondering when you were going to show up. Badge wants her treat.”</p><p>“I stuck around the school, saw a game.” Zuko bent down and gave the Australian Shepherd a pet and a treat like he always did. Toph was blind and Badge was her seeing-eye dog. Toph typically didn’t like people petting her dog while Badge was working, Zuko was the exception since they had gotten to know each other pretty well over the summer. Toph liked to come into the shop, have some tea (best tea around) and talk with Zuko and Iroh.</p><p>“So, you do have friends. I was proven wrong yet again” Toph teased, taking a sip of her tea. “I’m glad you went out, though. Everyone deserves a day off”</p><p>“Thanks but it’s getting late, you should get home before your parents start calling the cops” Zuko knew what Toph’s parents were like, he never met them but Toph had plenty of stories about how crazy overprotective they were.</p><p>“Yeah, we definitely don’t want that. Alright, I’ll be back. Talk soon Zuko” Toph said before getting up, leaving with Badge.</p><p>Zuko went into the back where his uncle was making tea and grabbed his apron. “Hey, uncle.”</p><p>“Zuko, you’re back! How was the game?”</p><p>“It wasn’t terrible. We watched Ty Lee cheer, got pizza, and now I’m here.”</p><p>“Well, I’m glad you had a good time.”</p><p>“Me too. Please tell me it wasn’t too busy around here while I was gone.”</p><p>“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”</p><p>“Good. I hate leaving you understaffed on busy days”</p><p>“Don’t worry about that. Worry about living your life, Zuko” His uncle said before bringing the tea out to customers. Zuko helped his uncle, taking the orders and serving while his uncle made the tea (Zuko couldn’t make good tea for the life of him) until closing time. </p><p> </p><p>Zuko went to more soccer games with Mai and Azula after that. Caldera’s soccer team hadn’t lost another match. And like clockwork, after every game, Sokka would go around to all the players and cheerleaders and compliment and thank them for all their good work, he believed as Captain of the soccer team it was his duty to go around to everyone and make sure they were doing well and keep their morale high even on days they win. </p><p>“Great job, Ty Lee. I love your enthusiasm,” Sokka said.</p><p>“Thanks, Sokka! You really killed it out there today” Ty Lee responded, just as bubbly as ever.</p><p>“I don’t understand why you put up with him after every game,” Azula said, she had trouble seeing the world outside of her own little circle, so she didn’t realize this was just who Sokka was. “She’s not interested!” Azula said to Sokka.</p><p>“Relax” Sokka replied, the girl looked familiar, he’d never talked to her but heard about her, ‘Ty Lee’s mean friend’, “Azula, right?” Azula nodded and Sokka continued, </p><p>“I like to go around to my teammates and the wonderful cheerleaders who cheer us on and keep them inspired.”</p><p>Ty Lee nodded. “It really works, we haven’t lost a game since.”</p><p>Ty Lee nudged Sokka, “maybe you could talk to those two,” she said referring to Mai and Zuko, “their morale is always very low” Ty Lee laughed at her own joke.</p><p>Zuko and Mai didn’t, Mai just said “Very funny, Ty Lee” in her monotone voice.</p><p>“Well, maybe I could get all of your spirits up in one shot. I'm having a party at my place for the team since my dad and gran gran are out of town. You four should come by, we’d love to have you,” Sokka offered.</p><p>Azula seemed like she was considering it, but Ty Lee was afraid Azula would turn it down so Ty Lee said, “Of course we’ll come!” before Azula could answer.</p><p>“Awesome, I’ll text you the address,” Sokka said, pulling out his phone. “It’s at 7 so we’ll see you in a little while,” Sokka said before walking off.</p><p>“Ty Lee, what the heck was that? I’m not going to some stranger’s house” Mai said, completely against this.</p><p>“It’s not a stranger, it’s our classmate!”</p><p>“And we’ve never spoken more than a sentence to him at a time”</p><p>“Well, this is your time to get to know him and some of the other students too.”</p><p>“Maybe we should go,” Azula added.</p><p>“I can’t believe you want to go,” Zuko said.</p><p>“To a party? Why not?”</p><p>Zuko thought for a moment “I’ll have to let uncle know but I guess it’s not the worst idea” he relented.</p><p>“Zuko, come on, you too?” Mai asked.</p><p>“Mai, it could be fun. We can go for a little while and if it sucks, we can leave” Zuko offered.</p><p>“. . . I guess”</p><p>“Great!” Ty Lee said excitedly.</p><p>“Now, obviously we can’t go to a party wearing what we are now, so we’ll all go home and get changed then arrive at the party on time,” Azula said. “See you then, Zuzu” Azula said and the group split up. Azula and her friends traveling uptown and Zuko going downtown. </p><p> </p><p>When Zuko got to the tea shop he said a quick hello to Toph and Badge before quickly making his way to the back. “Hey Uncle, I have a quick question. Would it be okay if I went to a friend’s house for the evening?”</p><p>“A friend? Mai or Ty Lee?” Iroh asked.</p><p>“Uh. . . His name is Sokka, actually. We just became friends recently.”</p><p>“A new friend? Yes, go, have fun!” Iroh said, excited for his nephew.</p><p>“Oh-, okay. Thank you! I’ll keep in touch; let you know when I’m coming home” Zuko said as he headed for the back door toward the apartment.</p><p>Zuko looked through his closet. He wasn’t sure what to wear to a party, but he settled for a mix between formal and casual, judging from the pictures Mai and Ty Lee were sending to group chat, they were too. Then there was Azula, she was also wearing a mix, but leaning more toward formal since all her ‘party’ clothes leaned formal anyway. </p><p> </p><p>“Nervous?” Azula asked Zuko, after they had met up and were on their way to the party.</p><p>“No. Why?”</p><p>“You’ve never been to a party before.”</p><p>“I’ve been to plenty.”</p><p>“Dad’s events and fundraisers don’t count; they are nothing like high school parties.”</p><p>“Well, in that case, you’ve never been to one either, are you nervous?”</p><p>Azula laughed, “no.” Of course, she wasn’t nervous. What Azula lacked in charisma she made up for with pure confidence. </p><p>“Well then I suppose I’ll just have to follow your lead then,” Zuko said, sarcastically.</p><p>“Good call.” Azula catching the sarcasm in his tone and ignoring it.</p><p> </p><p>When they arrived someone from the team that the four didn’t know answered the door. “Hey, you guys must be here for Sokka’s party. Come on in! Drinks are in the backyard.” he said, letting them in.</p><p>As they walked through the house a lot of people said hi to Ty Lee and Ty Lee of course waved back to them. It made sense that she would know most of the people here since it was mostly soccer players and cheerleaders that were invited. Sokka was in the backyard when the four of them got back there. He was playing the music (which was loud enough to be fun but not enough to create a disturbance with the neighbors) and when Sokka saw them he went over to greet them. “Hey! I’m so glad you guys could make it!”</p><p>“Thanks for inviting us,” Ty Lee replied.</p><p>“Of course, anytime we have a get together like this you four are more than welcome,” Sokka told Ty Lee, before looking at the rest of the group “Drinks are over there, help yourselves. There are games in the basement, and plenty of people to occupy your time all over the place.”</p><p> </p><p>During the party, Mai found some guy to dance with, Ty Lee was trying to teach Azula how to flirt with guys and it was not going well and Zuko was standing by himself so Sokka, being the good host he was, decided to talk to Zuko. “Hey.”</p><p>“Hi, thanks for having us,” Zuko responded, really wishing by now that he had stayed home.</p><p>“Your name is Zuko, right? I think we have a few classes together.”</p><p>“Yeah, we do. You sit front and center every class and you’ve always got the right answer.”</p><p>“I sure do,” Sokka smiled. “So, how do you know Ty Lee? I always took you for a loner.”</p><p>“My sister, Azula. She’s friends with Mai and Ty Lee, they’ve been friends since they were little, they were around so much that I ended up becoming friends with them too.</p><p>“Azula’s your sister?”</p><p>“Most people don’t know that”</p><p>“Well, you two are just so different. I mean I guess I can see a resemblance but personality-wise, you’re very different.”</p><p>“Well that was by design, if anyone saw how we grew up they’d understand.”</p><p>“Oh?”</p><p>Zuko said too much and he turned to leave. “I should leave.”</p><p>Sokka didn’t give up, “But you just got here”</p><p>“I-It’s fine, really. Thank you for having me, uh, please tell my friends I wasn’t feeling well. I have to go.”</p><p>“Are you sure you can’t stay?”</p><p>Zuko was very skeptical of Sokka, he couldn’t understand why Sokka seemed to want him to stay. “Why do you care?”</p><p>Sokka shrugged, “I just want you to enjoy yourself.”</p><p>Zuko thought about it for a moment. It would be suspicious if he went home so soon after leaving. Maybe he could stay a little longer. “Thanks. Uh, I guess I could stay a little longer.”</p><p>Sokka smiled. “Do you know how to dance?”</p><p>“No, not really. I haven’t ever really tried.”</p><p>“Would you like to? It’s fun if you can loosen up.”</p><p>“. . . I guess I could give it a try,” Zuko mumbled.</p><p>Sokka grabbed Zuko’s wrist and dragged him to the part of the house that was being used as a dance floor. The music that was playing was a pop song. Sokka started to dance, not good but he was having fun. Zuko felt so out of place in the middle of that dance floor, but he wasn’t going to walk away just yet so he just started moving around a little. Nothing too noticeable, just swaying a bit and moving his feet around. It felt weird, but Sokka wasn’t making him feel weird about it; in fact, Sokka probably looked like a bigger dork than him. It was just really nice. Even after they stopped dancing, the two continued to hang out during the party. They talked, they got to know each other, simple things, Zuko shared the fact he lived with his uncle (but not why) and that he worked in his uncle's tea shop. Sokka shared that he lived with his dad and his grandmother, who he called gran-gran, and worked part-time for a catering company as a server. His feet would be sore after walking around waiting on people all day (Zuko could relate), but he did enjoy seeing what rich people parties were like. Zuko found himself enjoying the company and he surprised his friends by not being the first person to leave the party.</p><p> </p><p>When he did eventually leave later that night, Mai left with him. </p><p>“I saw you talking to that soccer player all night,” Mai said.</p><p>“Yeah, he’s nice.”</p><p>“I have to say I’m surprised.”</p><p>“Surprised?”</p><p>“I never thought jocks were your type”</p><p>“My- my type?”</p><p>“Yeah. I thought you’d go for someone more like yourself but then I guess, opposites attract.”</p><p>“Mai I’m not interested in him, we talked for a while he wanted me to enjoy his dumb party, that’s all.”</p><p>“If you say so.”</p><p>“I’ll see you in school Mai,” Zuko said as they approached her house.</p><p>“Bye Zuko.”</p><p>Zuko watched Mai go inside and then walked back home where his Uncle was waiting to hear about his night.</p><p>“How was your night, Zuko?” Iroh asked.</p><p>“It was. . . nice,” Zuko said, he offered no extra details and Iroh did not push.</p><p> </p><p>When Monday rolled around, he was back at school. As Zuko went about his morning classes, he noticed Sokka was continually shooting him glances. Just little glances and maybe some waves, but the big shock was when Zuko took his normal seat in the back corner of the cafeteria and Sokka dropped right down in the seat across from him without hesitation. “Heya Zuko” Sokka greeted.</p><p>Zuko put down the book he was reading. “. . . Hi Sokka,” Zuko said, quite confused at the new addition to his usually empty lunch table.</p><p>“You seem surprised to see me.”</p><p>“I’m not surprised to see you; I’m surprised you’re sitting with me. You always sit with your friends” Zuko said, pointing in the direction of the people Sokka usually sat with.</p><p>“True but that was before the party.”</p><p>“I just figured you’d keep sitting with your friends at lunch and just say hey in the hallways.”</p><p>“That’s not what friends do.”</p><p>“Friends?” He wants to be my friend? Zuko thought. Of course, Zuko wanted to be friends because Sokka was nice to talk to, but Sokka could and would carry a conversation with anyone. Zuko never anticipated him wanting an actual friendship.</p><p>“Unless you don’t want to be friends.”</p><p>“I do! Uh, I mean, I do. I just didn’t know you would want to.”</p><p>“Well, you’ll be happy to know that I do.”</p><p>Zuko smiled a bit. “I am. I really am.”</p><p>“What were you reading?” Sokka said looking at the book Zuko had out down when Sokka sat with him.</p><p>“Love Amongst the Dragons” Zuko replied, “my mother loved the book and the movie, when we were kids she made me and my sister watch it all the time, I decided to read the book the movie was based off.”</p><p>Throughout lunch, Sokka seemed really interested in learning about Zuko. That, of course, meant talking about Iroh’s tea shop.</p><p>“Where’s your uncle’s shop?”</p><p>“It’s in Little Ba Sing Se. Do you like tea?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Sokka answered. “My sister does too”</p><p>“I’ll give you the address. I work there after school and most weekends, and I know you have practice, so come by whenever you’re free. I promise you it’ll be the best tea you have”</p><p>“Maybe tomorrow, we have the day off.”</p><p>Zuko pulled out a piece of paper from a notebook, scribbled down the address, and handed it to Sokka. “I can’t wait to see you there.”</p><p>Sokka glanced down at the paper. The shop was called The Jasmine Dragon. Cool name! “If the tea is as good as you say, you’ll see me a lot.”</p><p>“I look forward to it.”</p><p> </p><p>The next day, Katara and Sokka spent the day together in Little Ba Sing Se, they went shopping because Sokka loves shopping, then they stopped into the Jasmine Dragon. As soon as the pair walked in Zuko saw them and smiled, going to their table to take their order. “Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon, I’ll be your server today” he greeted.</p><p>“Heya, Zuko” Sokka smiled at him.</p><p>“Hi, Sokka.” Zuko said to Sokka before turning to address the girl sitting across from him, “and you must be his sister, Katara. Hi, it’s really nice to meet you”<br/>
“Nice to meet you too, Zuko,” Katara said having heard a bit about Zuko from her brother.</p><p>“What can I get for you two today?” Zuko asked.</p><p>Katara and Sokka looked over the menu. “What do you recommend?” Sokka asked, knowing nothing about tea.</p><p>“I would recommend the Ba Sing Quon” Zuko replied. “A nice but subtle taste”</p><p>“Then I’ll have it,” Sokka replied.</p><p>“The white lotus tile sounds nice,” Katara said.<br/>
“You're both wrong.” A girl said sitting down at the table next to them. “Metal brew is the only tea in this shop worth drinking. But don’t tell Iroh I said that.”</p><p>Zuko chuckled. “Oh, Iroh is definitely not going to like to hear that, Toph, not from his favorite customer.”</p><p>“Listen, he’s never gonna know if you don’t tell him.”</p><p>“I’ll think about it. Maybe I’ll spare you because I’ll miss Badge too much.”</p><p>Zuko left to get Toph, Sokka, and Katara their tea.</p><p>“I’m Sokka,” Sokka said to Toph. “And this is my sister, Katara”</p><p>“Hi,” Katara said.</p><p>“How do you know, Zuko?” Sokka asked.</p><p>“I’ve been coming here every day for months. It’s a way to get out of my house and get some decent tea. Iroh usually serves me but Zuko always gives Badge here a treat,” Toph said, scratching the head of her dog who sat obediently next to her.</p><p>“Badge is really cute name for your dog.”</p><p>“It’s short for Badgermole.”</p><p>“Oh.” Sokka couldn’t tell if she was serious or if she just had a dry sense of humor. Toph wasn’t serious, her dog was named Badge but whenever people commented on the name, she liked to say it was short for something outlandish.</p><p>“She’s a very cute dog,” Katara commented, looking at the adorable pup. Very well behaved and very cute.</p><p>“People tell me that a lot. I wouldn’t know, I do know she’s an Australian Shepherd.”</p><p>“What made you choose this tea shop of all places?” Sokka asked, changing the topic before either of them asked a stupid question.</p><p>“Lotsa places around here don’t allow pets of any kind. Iroh doesn’t like pets in his shop but he makes an exception for seeing-eye dogs like Badge because she is well behaved, and I need her.”</p><p>“From what I can gauge, Iroh seems like a pretty sweet man.”</p><p>“He is, cares a lot about his nephew, tea, and helping those around him.”</p><p>“Sounds like a great guy. I hope his tea is just as good.”</p><p>“It is. He’ll never tell ya what he puts in it though. Just says the secret ingredient is love.”</p><p>Sokka and Katara both laughed. That was the most cliche thing, but it was heartwarming too. “Uncle will bring the tea out when it’s ready,” Zuko said as he came back to the three of them, sitting down across from Toph. “He said I could take my break while my friends are here.”</p><p>“I’m touched you want to spend your break with me, Zuko” Toph smiled at him.</p><p>“Actually, I want to spend it with Badge, but you’ll do.” Zuko teased, “I love having you around Toph. You make life interesting.”</p><p>“I know. I can’t imagine how boring your life would be without me.”</p><p>“Very boring, so you better not find a better tea shop.”</p><p>“Better tea shop?” Sokka asked. “Didn’t you say this was the best?”</p><p>“It is, that’s how I know she’ll never leave,” Zuko said, now turning his attention to Sokka. “How are you?”</p><p>“So far I’ve been doing very good. I love going shopping,” Sokka replied.</p><p>“My brother thinks of himself as a fashionista,” Katara said. </p><p>“I don’t think I’m one. I am one,” Sokka replied.</p><p>“You do have a very unique style,” Zuko chimed in.</p><p>Sokka smiled. “See, Zuko agrees with me.”</p><p>“Um,” Katara said squinting her eyes and tilting her head to the side like she was thinking, “I’m not sure he was exactly agreeing with you.”</p><p>At that moment, Iroh came over to the table and placed down the tray with three teacups, and he picked one up and placed it in front of Toph, gently moving her fingers to the handle so she didn’t have to search. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite customer and Zuko’s new friends. It’s very nice to meet you two,” Iroh greeted.</p><p>“Nice to meet you too, Iroh!” Sokka said, Katara echoing his sentiment.</p><p>“It’s nice to see who my nephew has been hanging out with. I haven’t seen him half as happy as he was coming home from your house in a long time.”</p><p>“Uncle,” Zuko said, his voice pleading “please.”</p><p>“Alright, alright. I’ll get back to the kitchen, I see a rush coming it. I hope I will see you two around here more. And Toph, I have a new tea I want you to try tomorrow, I think you’ll like it,” Iroh mentioned before heading back to the kitchen.</p><p>Sokka smiled at Zuko, “I didn’t realize you enjoyed the party so much. Maybe I should throw some more.”</p><p>“That party was a lot of fun and if you throw another, I’d be more than happy to come”</p><p>“Then, after the next game, there will be another party!” Sokka said. Since Toph was sitting right there he figured it would be rude not to invite her. “You can come too, Toph, if you want.”</p><p>“I’ll come but only if Zuko stays with me. I’m not going to some party with a bunch of teens I don’t know,” Toph said.</p><p>“Of course, I’ll stay with you Toph, I wouldn’t leave you alone like that,” Zuko assured her.</p><p>“I actually know a kid around your age,” Katara said. “His name is Aang. He’s really nice and I’m sure he’d love to meet you. I’ll invite him and introduce you two.”<br/>
“Hmm, I’ll meet him and see how I like him.”</p><p>They continued to talk. Katara talked with them, of course, but her attention stayed mostly on her brother. She’d seen him talk with his teammates and other friends before, but he seemed. . . different with Zuko. It took her a while, but she finally realized that Sokka was looking at Zuko the way Aang would sometimes look at her. “You have a crush on Zuko!” She said as they were walking home.</p><p>“What?! No, I don’t. I haven’t had a crush on anyone since Yue moved away!” Sokka said. Sokka’s first girlfriend was Yue. They were together for a very short time since soon after they got together Yue had to move. They still talked but agreed they couldn’t put their love lives on hold especially since they had no idea what they were doing after high school and when they would see each other again. It was Sokka’s first real heartbreak.</p><p>“Oh, come on Sokka, you can fool yourself, but you can’t fool me, I see the way you look at him!”</p><p>“He’s my friend, I look at Suki the same way!” Sokka said.</p><p>“You absolutely do not. Suki is at our house almost every day, I know how you look at her and it’s not how you look at Zuko.”</p><p>“Well, maybe that’s just because I know Suki so well and I’m just getting to know Zuko. He’s a really interesting person.”</p><p>“Okay, I’ll come back to this in about 2 weeks when you realize you’re head over heels for him, I’ll let you live your fantasy for now.”</p><p>Sokka crossed his arms. “You sure talk a lot for someone who needs me to drive them home. It’s almost like you want to take the subway.”</p><p>“. . . If you leave me, I’ll tell dad and then neither of us gets to go in that car”</p><p>“Tattletail!”</p><p>Katara smirked, “only when I need to be.”</p><p> </p><p>That weekend Zuko went and watched the game with his usual crew, and instead of meeting up with them to go to the party, he waited for Toph at the tea shop and went with her.</p><p>Toph even got a little dressed up for the event in a dress and flats. “Wow. You look nice, Toph.”</p><p>“You sound surprised,” Toph frowned. “You think just because I’m blind I don’t know how to dress up!”</p><p>“No, no, no!” Zuko said, panicked, trying to figure out a way to correct himself but before he could Toph started laughing.</p><p>“I’m just messing with you,” she said. “I would return the compliment, but I have no idea what you look like.”</p><p>Zuko nodded “I know. Y’know, don't take this the wrong way but sometimes I’m happy you can’t see me.”</p><p>“What do you mean, Zuko?” Toph asked.</p><p>Zuko thought about it for a moment. Toph and he weren’t super close, but she was fiercely loyal and very trustworthy. She was someone he could talk to. “You wouldn’t know this, but I have a scar on my face. Not a little one, not one that’s a bit noticeable but you can look past it, it’s a huge burn mark all around my eye. It’s the first thing people see, and sometimes it’s the only thing people see. Some people are nosy and ask questions they’re not entitled to answers to, some people are rude and just stare quietly, but a lot of people just strike up small conversations just to look at it. You’re the first person in my life since getting this scar that’s never once said a word about it, never mentioned it, never anything, and that’s because you can’t see it. I have to look at it every day and every day I wish I couldn’t see it. . . It’s just a little refreshing, I guess. You talk to me because you want to, and you treat me like a normal person, and I really appreciate that.”</p><p>“You probably don’t realize it, but you’ve done the same for me. My parents have been overprotective of me my whole life due to my blindness and everyone who I meet either talks down to me, feels bad for me, or pities me, they always treat me like I’m made of glass and I always hated it. Your uncle never belittled or talked down to me, he treated me as he would any other customer. And you never treated me any different, either. I appreciate that.” Toph told Zuko. “Even now that I know about your scar, I don’t care. People care so much about their looks but that doesn’t matter to me. How you look doesn’t make you who you are, Zuko. You’re my friend that’s all that will ever matter to me.”</p><p>Zuko stopped walking and pulled Toph into a hug. He was rare with his affections, but this was a moment where he felt it necessary. “Thank you, Toph.”<br/>
Toph hugged him back. “I meant every word, Zuko”</p><p>“I know. Your smart ass rarely says something you don’t mean. . . You’re my best friend.”</p><p>“And your mine, second only to Badge.”</p><p>“Well, of course, Badge comes first, that was a given,” Zuko agreed before letting go. “C’mon, let’s go get our party on.”</p><p> </p><p>They arrived at Sokka’s house and were greeted by Sokka. “Hey!” Sokka said. “You’re right on time!” </p><p>“Hey, Sokka! Beautiful place you’ve got here,” Toph said as they walked in, Zuko trying really hard not to laugh.</p><p>“Really?! You know I actually helped a lot with the dec-” Sokka paused as he remembered Toph was blind, “why do you feel the need to do that?”</p><p>“Because it’s hilarious, and I like to see how long it takes people to remember,” Toph replied as the pair stepped into the house.</p><p>“There’s a bunch of snacks and drinks set up in the kitchen, you can help yourself to whatever you want.”</p><p>“Perfect! Zuko, please lead me to the snacks.”</p><p>“My pleasure, Toph,” Zuko said, walking with Toph to the kitchen, Sokka following in tow.</p><p>“So, has your dancing improved any from the last time you were here?” Sokka asked Zuko.</p><p>“I don’t know, I haven’t practiced any. Seems you’re just going to have to teach me more every time I come here,” Zuko answered, smiling.</p><p>“I can try, don’t know if you’ll be as good a dancer as myself,” Sokka joked. </p><p>“Oh Sokka, nobody dances quite like you do”</p><p>“What can I say? I’m unique, it’s part of my charm”</p><p>Toph was laughing quietly to herself listening to them talk. </p><p>“What are you laughing at?” Sokka asked.</p><p>“Nothing,” Toph replied quickly.</p><p>Before Sokka could reply Katara stepped in, unknowingly saving her. “Toph, can you come with me for a sec?”</p><p>“Sure thing, Katara,” Toph said, grabbing a handful of pretzels and walking away with Katara. </p><p>“Do you know why she was laughing?” Sokka asked.</p><p>Zuko just shrugged.</p><p>“Well, now that Toph is off with Katara, I have you all to myself,” Sokka said “C’mon, let’s go dance for a little while and then I can show you my room.”</p><p>Zuko replied, “Okay.”</p><p>The pair went to the living room to dance, Zuko no better than the last time they did. They danced for a few songs before it started to get a little too crowded for comfort and Sokka gently pulled Zuko from the crowd.</p><p>“That was fun” Zuko replied, letting Sokka pulled him away.</p><p>“C’mon, let’s go upstairs. It’ll be quieter and we can relax a bit before jumping back in,” Sokka said as he started bringing Zuko upstairs.</p><p>“That’s fine by me” Zuko replied. They went up to Sokka’s room. It was spacious but also covered in a lot of fun things, posters, and action figures. Zuko took the time to take it all in. His walls were blue, Sokka did seem to really like the color blue. He looked at all his posters, one of a soccer team that Zuko didn’t recognize the name of. The other two were prints from movies. He could see this man had so many sneakers, was he a centipede? Why did he need so many? Especially, since he wore the same sparkly blue ones every day. On his shelves in between his action figures and books were pictures. He could recognize Katara. He knew Suki from seeing her around the school. He could guess that the man who looked like an older version of Sokka was his dad and the elderly woman was his gran-gran. One picture of Sokka and Katara as kids with a woman he guessed was their mother since she died when he was young. He smiled, “cute kid.”</p><p>“I was adorable, wasn’t I?” Sokka asked, looking at the picture “My mom’s friends didn’t have kids, they fussed over Katara and I so much. Might be why I have such an ego now.”</p><p>“Well, I kinda like the way you turned out.”</p><p>“Thank you, I appreciate it. I like the way I turned out too: I’m even cuter now.”</p><p>“You look nice.”</p><p>“Do you want to sit? Sit, relax. I just need to put away a few things” Sokka said as he quickly started to busy himself straightening up his already straightened up room.</p><p>Zuko sat on Sokka’s chair by his desk. He liked how expressive his room was. In his father’s home, everything was in shades of red and gold, it’s like they lived in a damn volcano. When he got to Iroh’s house, Iroh asked how he wanted to decorate his room and Zuko had no idea how. Eventually, he got the walls painted an off white and has one print, a knock- off based off an artist he loves. </p><p>“I don’t want to sound rude, I’m just curious, why do you have so many shoes?” Zuko asked suddenly.</p><p>“I don’t have that many shoes!” Sokka defended. He knew he had a lot of shoes. “Well, I guess I do but I like shoes and I have them all for a reason. I have my favorite pair of sneakers, nicer pairs for house parties, I need shoes for soccer practice and games, fancy shoes for when my dad drags me and my sister to those boring political fundraisers he gets invited too. And then some are too small or too worn but I haven’t thrown them out yet.”</p><p>“Oh! Okay, that makes sense. I was just confused because you always wear the blue sparkly sneakers.”</p><p>“These were a gift from Suki. She always is the best at buying gifts.”</p><p>“She seems to really get you, you two are very close.”</p><p>“She’s my best friend. The day we met she beat me up, we’ve been inseparable since.”</p><p>Zuko laughed out loud. “Oh spirits, you must’ve really gotten under her skin.”</p><p>“Yeah. I wasn’t always the charmer you see before you, I was a jerk to her. But after she kicked my ass, I asked her to teach me how to do that, I’d never been in a fight before so it took a while but finally, I learned and now we’re best friends.”</p><p>“Well, I’m glad to hear that. You got a best friend and useful skills out of that interaction”</p><p>“Yeah. Suki’s really the whole package”</p><p>“I can teach you how to fight!” Zuko said. He’s not sure why he said it, he didn’t even know if Sokka wanted to fight, Sokka already gave so much of his time to Zuko but he wanted more. “Uh, I mean, it’s the least I can do since your tryna teach me how to dance.”</p><p>Sokka’s eyes lit up. “For real? You would do that?”</p><p>“Yeah. I have a black belt in Kung Fu,” Zuko thought earning a black would please his father, of course, it didn’t. Zuko took seven years to master Kung-fu, whereas his sister mastered it in five.</p><p>“That would be sick Zuko! I would love that!”</p><p>Zuko smiled. “Okay! I rent out time in master’s Lo and Li’s Dojo to practice so I don’t get rusty, I can teach you then!”</p><p>“Text me the day and time and I’ll be there.”</p><p>After a few more minutes of talking about whatever popped in their heads, they decided to go back downstairs to enjoy the party. Zuko made sure to see where Toph was if she wanted him. She did not, she was talking to some kid, he assumed it was the one Katara mentioned at the tea shop. </p><p> </p><p>After the party was over, Zuko said goodnight to Zuko and got Toph. “Hey, ready to go?”</p><p>“Yeah, sure thing, Zuko. It was really nice to meet you, Aang! Call me some time so we can hang out again,” Toph said before she left with Zuko.</p><p>“Looks like someone finally made a friend her own age.”</p><p>“Yeah, he’s the first kid my age I’ve met that isn’t a complete jerk.”</p><p>“Good. I knew there had to be at least one kid out there.”</p><p>“Aang is great, an absolute dork and great”</p><p>“You can always invite him to the tea shop with you. I’m sure Uncle would love another customer.”</p><p>“That’s a great idea! You’re a smart boy, Zuko, I knew I kept you around for a reason.”</p><p>“You keep me around?”</p><p>“I sure do,” Toph said and that was the end of that conversation.</p><p>They did continue to talk as Zuko walked Toph home. She lived pretty close to Sokka’s so it wasn’t a very far walk. It was a big house with a lot of grounds. He had recalled Toph saying the only place in her house she liked was the backyard. He waited until Toph let herself in before he turned and jumped on the subway to get home.</p><p> </p><p>On Monday Zuko felt a little more seen than usual, almost like people were watching him. He was used to that (for the most part) but not to the extent he felt it happening. He would catch people staying who would quickly turn away, and he could swear he was hearing whispers down the hall, but he decided to ignore it. It was probably nothing. It was usually nothing.</p><p> </p><p>It was between 2nd and 3rd period Zuko got stopped on his way to class by Azula, she looked mad. “Why did I have to find from one of Ty Lee’s stupid little cheerleader friends that you're dating the soccer player and not from you, my brother?!”</p><p>“What? Dating him?! No! Azula you know I would tell you if I was dating someone, we’re not together” Zuko defended.</p><p>“The whole school is talking about it, Zuko. How can it not be true?”</p><p>“It’s just not. I don’t know why two guys can’t just be friends. I promise that if I get into a relationship, I’ll let you know, but I’m telling you that I’m not with Sokka.”</p><p>“You better let me know. I swear to Agni, I could’ve killed that girl when she told me.” Azula crossed her arms, her anger started to fade. Zuko wanted to get to class but Azula had more to say. “You know I wasn’t going to say anything but. . . I think you can do better than that peasant.”</p><p>Zuko would have been thrown through a loop, did Azula just (in her own convoluted way) complement him? But he was thrown off by the word peasant. “Peasant? Really, Azula? It’s not like we’re royalty”</p><p>“We might as well be, Zuzu. We are the governor’s kids and live in the biggest house in the city.”</p><p>“No, you live in the biggest house in the city, I live in an apartment with Uncle. I’m not complaining, I love it there, but if we’re throwing stones that makes me more of a peasant than Sokka. I know you’re trying to be nice, but please don’t do it at the expense of my friend. I care about him, a lot.”</p><p>Azula looked like she might have been about the reply, but the bell rang singling they were both late. “I have to get to Calculus five minutes ago,” Zuko said taking off down the hall. He tried to sneak in the back door of the class but of course, the teacher still noticed he was late and was less than pleased. Zuko took the only available seat next to Sokka. This was great. Maybe he could talk to Sokka as to why everyone thought they were dating during their partner work. The first half of class was always lecture, and the back half of the lesson was practicing in pairs. Of course, Zuko and Sokka were able to pair up, and before they could start working Zuko blurted out “Why does everyone think we’re dating?” </p><p>“I’m sorry, what?”</p><p>“Everyone, in the school, they think we’re dating. Why?”</p><p>“Oh, that’s why my friends were acting weird,” Sokka replied. “Well, I guess it could be because of what happened at the party”</p><p>“What do you mean? What about the party?” Zuko asked. </p><p>“Ahem” Sokka and Zuko looked up to see the teacher staring down at them. </p><p>Zuko and Sokka quickly started to work out the answer to the first equation, until the teacher was out of earshot. Then Sokka replied, “well, I kinda took you up to my room, and the past three years I’ve been hosting parties no one has gone up to my room. The one rule I have is the party is on the first floor and only the first floor.”</p><p>“So- . . . Oh. Oh! Oh my Agni!” Zuko said, starting to piece things together, “everyone probably thinks we. . .”</p><p>“Yeah, I’d say so,” Sokka said looking guilty.</p><p>“I-I don’t- how do we get people to stop thinking that thing?”</p><p>“I mean, I can try to spread the truth around but rumors and high school go together like hot water and tea leaves.” Off Zuko’s confused expression Sokka said, “what<br/>
I mean is, high schoolers want to believe rumors with no basis in reality because they are more interesting than the truth.”</p><p>“Great. This is great.” Zuko said, head in his hands.</p><p>“I’m sorry. I didn’t think this would happen at the time. I just wanted someplace a little quieter and private where we could talk.”</p><p>“I know, I know that. I trust you, Sokka, I know you had no ill intent bringing me upstairs, but I need you to understand that this is really hard for me right now. I’ve gotten attention for all the wrong reasons for years, and now I’m getting even more for more wrong reasons and it sucks, and it hurts, and I hate it. I’m not mad I just. . . I just want one day where nobody looks at me, you know?”</p><p>“I’ll try and fix this, Zuko. I promise.” Sokka said.</p><p>“Even if you can’t it’s fine, there’s nothing that can be done,” Zuko said, his eyes now glued to his worksheet. He wished he could disappear right about now. “What do you this is the answer for equation 2?”</p><p>Sokka was so upset that he had done this to Zuko. He should have known this would happen and that it would make Zuko uncomfortable, but he wasn’t thinking of that, he was just thinking of himself, what he wanted. That feeling got worse when he didn’t see Zuko at lunch. Sokka went back to sitting with his teammates for that day.</p><p>“Trouble in paradise there, Sokka?” his friend, Duke, asked. Sokka hung out with the group all the time outside school, but at lunchtime, he always sat with Zuko.</p><p>“That’s the problem, Zuko, my friend, is annoyed because everyone thinks we are dating and we are most certainly not, we are just friends”</p><p>“You’re not dating?” Haru chimed in “Bro, we thought you two were dating even before the party, that just solidified it. We really didn’t know.”</p><p>“What? Why would you think that?”</p><p>“Well, you started sitting solely with him rather than inviting him to sit with all of us,” Haru said.</p><p>“And you talk about him a lot, and when you talk about him you get this little excited sparkle in your eye,” Teo added.</p><p>“We just thought you wanted to be with him and not make a big deal about it,” Duke offered.</p><p>“No. Zuko is just my friend. We’re not together and he certainly doesn’t want people to think we are!”</p><p>“Okay, okay. Sorry, Sokka. We get your frustration, but if you think for a second, we would spread your business like that we didn’t. Your life is your business, but we’ll make sure we tell everyone that it’s not true,” Duke assured him.</p><p>“We can’t guarantee they’ll believe it, but we’ll do everything we can to make sure we drive it home that you two are just friends,” Haru promised.</p><p>“Thanks, guys. I would really appreciate that.” Sokka didn’t believe it would work either, but it was better than doing nothing.</p><p>“Anything for you, bud. We’ve got your back,” Haru told Sokka.<br/>
Sokka smiled, everything wasn’t fixed but his friends did always know how to cheer him up. They talked for the rest of lunch, as they always did. </p><p> </p><p>Once the period was over, though, Sokka’s friends got to work spreading that “happy couple” wasn’t a couple at all. They were shocked to find Azula was also trying to fix the rumor and replace it with the truth. And although some people did believe the truth (or at least said they did because Azula was scary) most people choose to believe the rumor.</p><p> </p><p>After school, Zuko was nowhere to be seen. Usually, after the final bell, Zuko would go meet Sokka at his locker just for a chat before they went their separate ways, but Zuko needed to get out of there. He felt guilty about it, though, and texted Sokka on his way home, telling him that Iroh needed Zuko back at the tea shop pronto because it was really busy. That was a lie, but it was a lie he was sticking to.</p><p>Sokka didn’t believe it but he texted back “Okay” then paused before typing “Are we still on for Kung-Fu after school tomorrow?”</p><p>“Of course, we are. Don’t forget to bring a lot of water” Zuko responded.</p><p>Sokka smiled and texted back “of course. Can’t wait!”</p><p>They texted a bit more throughout the afternoon and talked in school the next day, and then after school, Zuko took Sokka straight to the Dojo where he practiced. Zuko had a uniform which he typically practiced in but since he and Sokka were doing this mostly for fun and a way to spend time with each other he didn’t both changing. “This place is really nice” Sokka commented as they walked in.</p><p>“Yeah, my father made sure he found the most prestigious places for my sister and I to spend our time in. He’d be damned if anyone caught his children in some place less than ‘perfect’” Zuko responded, greeting Lo and Li as they passed the desk.</p><p>“Sounds like he pushed you and your sister pretty hard.”</p><p>“You have no idea.”</p><p>The boys out their book bags down against the wall and Zuko said, “the first thing I need to teach you in breathing”</p><p>Sokka deflated, this was not what he was expecting, “breathing? Really?”</p><p>“Yes. The last thing you want in a fight is to be gasping for breath. Breathing exercises is the first thing everyone need to learn.” Zuko explained.</p><p>“How long will it take to get to cool fighting moves?” Sokka asked.</p><p>Zuko shrugged, “Depends on how long it takes you to master the basics.”</p><p>“Got it. I’m gonna master the fuck out of my breathing” Sokka said, trying to get a laugh out of Zuko.</p><p>Zuko did crack a smile. He couldn’t help it, the only person he knew who ever cracked a joke was his uncle and his uncle’s jokes weren’t very good, Sokka, on the other hand, was hilarious. But Zuko, ever the professional, kept his composure as he went over the exercises with Sokka.</p><p> </p><p>They practiced the exercises for Zuko’s 2-hour block. He usually didn’t practice basics as they were engrained in everything he did when he practiced, however taking a day for just basics was refreshing. It was nice to go back to something simple and really feel it and focus and make sure he was doing it right. Practice always helped him melt some stresses away.</p><p>After the session, he asked Sokka, “Same time and day next week?”</p><p>“Yeah. Lo and Li have this date and time permanently reserved.”</p><p>“Great. I can’t wait.”</p><p>“That’s what I like to hear,” Zuko smiled. “Do you want to go grab food together?”</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>Zuko led Sokka to a little pizzeria near the studio that he went to often after practice.<br/>
They got their pizza and sat down across from each other. “So, kung-fu, any other hidden talents? Might as well tell me now because I’m going to find out sooner or later.”</p><p>“What fun is it to tell you?” Zuko asked “It’s more fun to keep you on your toes, never knowing what new thing is going to pop up next”<br/>
“Let me guess then: you work at a tea shop, you must great at making tea.”</p><p>“Actually, I’m pretty bad at it, my uncle makes the tea,” Zuko admitted. “I just take the orders.”</p><p>“Really now?”</p><p>“Yeah. I tried a few times and then we both decided it would be better if I served it while he made it.”</p><p>“Now I know to never let you make me tea.”</p><p>“Definitely not, but don’t think I don’t have power over who’s tea is ‘mysteriously’ bad. Stay on my good side, Sokka,” Zuko teased, unable to keep a straight face through the whole thing.</p><p>Sokka smiled back. “Roger that, Zuko.”</p><p>The two talked and teased over pizza and stayed long after either of them had finished until Iroh called Zuko and asked him to come back to the shop because they were about to have their closing rush. “I hate to leave, but duty calls. I’ll see you tomorrow, Sokka” Zuko said as they stood.</p><p>“Yeah. I’ll see ya” Sokka said as they split up.</p><p> </p><p>After that, the pair started to get very close. If there were days off from school Sokka would come hang out at the tea shop all day, on weekends Zuko would go to Sokka’s to relax and talk and spend time together, no party necessary. The rumors never went away, but Zuko was feeling better than ever having someone else in his life who felt like they really, deeply cared about him.</p><p> </p><p>And just like that, the happiness was gone. Not forever, just for a night. Iroh was waiting for Zuko when he got home from school, and Zuko could tell by the look on his uncle’s face that he wasn’t going to like what was about to happen. Ozai called. Zuko needed to be at a fundraiser. Admittedly the fundraisers and political events weren’t awful, they were nothing but bearable. What was unbearable about them was having to be within 2 miles of his father. As soon as he even looked at the house he used to live in, Zuko felt the anxiety and terror overtake him. This was going to be a long night.</p><p>“You don’t have to go,” Iroh told him. “I can tell my brother you don’t want to go, or you feel sick”</p><p>“I have to go,” Zuko said.</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“You know why,” Zuko answered. </p><p>“You won’t be there even a minute longer than necessary. I’ll be waiting outside for you as soon as it is over,” Iroh promised.</p><p>“Thanks, uncle”</p><p>“I would do anything for you, Zuko. Now, since you’re going let’s get you looking all handsome for the fundraiser”</p><p>Zuko washed up, put on his black and red suit, and then Iroh drove him to his former home. </p><p> </p><p>Zuko was early, expected to arrive before any guests did. Azula greeted her brother at the door and brought him inside to the ballroom where Ozai was taking one last look around to make sure everything was in order. Ozai glanced over when the kids entered the room and then looked away as he spoke to them. “There will be a few new faces coming to the event tonight. Very wealthy families I trust you’ll make a good impression and that you won’t completely embarrass me”</p><p>“Of course,” Azula replied.</p><p>“I’ll assume your answer is the same, Zuko” Ozai said, not even giving his son a chance to speak. “You should follow your sister around, a good sibling bond never hurt. . . and frankly I don’t need you talking to guests on your own after last time. I’ll be back when the guests arrive,” Ozai stated before promptly leaving the room through the back door.</p><p>“Want to spend the night bonding, Zuzu?” It was phrased like a joke.</p><p>“Not a chance,” Zuko replied.</p><p>“Agreed” Azula responded. “Ty Lee will be here and maybe Mai so I will be with them. You can stand in the corner or whatever it is you do when people aren’t paying attention”</p><p>“I plan to, trust me. This event can’t end fast enough.”</p><p>Zuko stayed by his father and sister at the beginning of the event, smiling and charming and greeting the guests. But the first chance he got he took off. He couldn’t stand to be around his father, he had to train himself not to flinch every time he saw his father raise his hand. And his sister. It was odd. She was fine at school and parties, Azula would always be Azula. But under the eyes of their father Azula turned into a completely, different person. She was cold and calculating. It wasn’t a coincidence, Ozai made her that way.</p><p>As soon as he was sure neither his sister nor father was looking, Zuko made a b-line for the door. He couldn’t stand to be in that room any longer, it felt like the room was closing in on him and he needed to get out of there. Just as he reached the door, however, he heard a voice right behind him. “Zuko?”</p><p>It was Sokka.</p><p>“I-I hi. Hi, Sokka. Caught me at a bad time. Be back later,” Zuko said before immediately leaving the room, not realizing Sokka was right on his heels, following to make sure his best friend was okay.</p><p>“I was excited when I found out we were going to be catering your father's event.” Sokka said, “I’d get paid and get to see my best friend.” </p><p>“Yeah, fun, very fun. Maybe you should go back to your job and I’ll be back to bother you in a little while. Sound fun? I think that sounds so fun.”</p><p>Sokka frowned. “Zuko, talk to me.”</p><p>Zuko turned, grabbed Sokka’s arm, and pulled him into the nearest room before locking the door. It was a little spare room, nothing special, but it was the perfect place to unravel. “I hate it here so much, Sokka,” Zuko choked out. “Every time I come back here I re-live everything over and over again like some sick movie that I just want to stop.”</p><p>“Tell me what happened.”</p><p>“Whatever I say to you right now does not leave this room until I tell you I’m ready to talk about it again.”</p><p>“Not a word, I swear on my life.”</p><p>“My dad hates me, always has. I don’t know what I ever did, why he’s always been so harsh and cruel and unforgiving, especially since the divorce and my mom was completely out of the picture. She cared about me, always tried to protect me from him, but he got full custody and she’s allowed nowhere near us. M-my Uncle was the one that got me out of here after. . . after this” Zuko said, motioning to the scar on his face.</p><p>“Your dad did that to you?”</p><p>“Yeah. Uncle threatened to call CPS but my father managed to work a deal out with him that I would go live with Uncle full time and just have to come back for political events.”</p><p>“That’s awful,” Sokka said. “I’m so sorry”</p><p>“I embarrassed him in front of some really powerful political allies,” Zuko said, leaning against a wall because now he was shaking “I-I was a fucking kid and he thought this was a suitable punishment for something as stupid as that. I just want to curl up and disappear every single time I have to see myself because no matter how much distance I put between us, no matter if I cut him out of my life or not he’ll always have this one final hold over my life!”</p><p>Sokka sat on the floor and pulled Zuko to sit down next to him and put his arm around him, hoping to be a comfort. “Why do you keep coming back here?”</p><p>Zuko leaned against Sokka. “As you can tell my dad has an unreal temper. If I don’t come for these events, I’m afraid he’ll hurt Azula in some way. I don’t want to upset him and put her in harm’s way like that.”</p><p>“You’re a very good brother. I don’t know if I could do what you do.”</p><p>“I hope you never have to. It’s a fucked up life to lead.”</p><p>“We’re just staying in here until the party is over.”</p><p>“No. No, we can’t. I can never fully disappear, and I can’t get you in trouble with your job. We can stay for a few more minutes.”</p><p>“I don’t care about my job; I care much about your well-being”</p><p>“Sokka please,” Zuko whispered “As long as I’m in this house I’m not well. Don’t make this harder than it already is.”</p><p>Sokka took Zuko’s hand. “Fine. But if you need me, I’m here, and if you don’t need me, still here.”</p><p>Zuko picked his head up off Sokka’s shoulder and looked his friend in the eye. His face just inches from Sokka’s as he spoke, “you’re the greatest thing to happen to me since I moved in with my Uncle.”</p><p>Sokka took a chance and leaned in and kissed Zuko. Zuko melted into the kiss almost immediately. They kissed for a long while, soft and sweet and intimate. It was nice, really nice. </p><p>“We should go,” Zuko said quietly once the two pulled away.</p><p>Sokka nodded. “Yeah” He stood and held out his hand to help Zuko up. Zuko took Sokka’s hand and got up, kissing Sokka’s cheek before the pair left the spare room and went back out to the party.</p><p>Sokka went around the party offering hors d’oeuvres and champagne to everyone as well as collecting glasses. Azula, as she said she would be, was with Ty Lee, her best friend. Zuko stayed out of the way of everyone, eating a few hors d’oeuvres that Sokka brought his way, and generally kept his mind preoccupied with Sokka the entire night so he didn’t have time, really, to panic about being stuck here for a few hours.</p><p> </p><p>After an excruciatingly long party, it was over. When Azula and Ozai said goodbye to Ty Lee and her parents, the last guests had finally left.</p><p>“Zuko, you’re dismissed. Azula, lovely job tonight, I know I can always count on you to make this family look good,” Ozai said, but Zuko didn’t stay for the whole though, he all but ran out as soon as Ozai said ‘dismissed.’ Iroh was right outside as promised. Zuko got into the passenger seat and Iroh drove him home. </p><p>“Hey Uncle, I need to ask you something,” Zuko said as they drove home.</p><p>“Okay. What do you need?”</p><p>“No, I don’t need anything I just-. . . We’ve, uh, we’ve never exactly talked about- a-about-” Zuko was a bit of a mess. He was always all out of sorts when he came back from Ozai’s and now the extra added layer of kissing Sokka but not really knowing what that means for them or if it was intentional or just a heat of the moment thing. Everything was just flooding his brain as he tried to talk “Sorry. I’m a bit frazzled.”</p><p>“Okay, Zuko, we’re almost home, I want you to take a minute, breathe, I’ll make you some tea, and then we can talk.”</p><p>Zuko nodded and stayed quiet the rest of the way home. </p><p> </p><p>When they got home Zuko changed out of the stupid suit he hated and into the pajamas that made him feel the safest, wrapped himself in a comfy throw blanket, and sat on the couch just as Iroh came back with the tea. They sat together in comfortable silence until Zuko was calm enough to speak. “Why did you take me in? I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or anything but why me? Why just me?”</p><p>“I actually said I would take in your sister too. Ozai said she refused, I’m not sure that’s true but I didn’t argue because at least I had you.”</p><p>“. . . How did you know? Father kept me locked up in my room and had someone coming to check on me and move the healing along. I didn’t see you until you came to tell me I was moving in with you. How did you know what happened?”</p><p>“Azula told me, the first and only time she came to my tea shop, so I knew something was wrong when I saw her.”</p><p>“Azula.” Zuko repeated quietly, taking another sip of his tea “I’ll have to thank her for that, one day. Arguably she saved my life”</p><p>“I don’t always see eye to eye with Azula, but I am glad she came to me,” Iroh said.</p><p>“Me too. . . Uncle, I think there’s something else I want to talk about.”</p><p>“Go ahead, Zuko,” Iroh said. “You don’t need to be scared to tell me anything.”</p><p>“I know that, but I still am. . . I think I have feelings for Sokka.”</p><p>“The boy you brought to the shop?” Iroh asked. “I liked him, very nice, complimented my tea.”</p><p>Zuko let himself smile. He had never fully been sure of where his uncle stood, but he was glad all this man cared about was Sokka complimenting his tea. “He loves your tea, and he’s very nice to me, and he sort of. . . Kissed me tonight at the fundraiser.”</p><p>“He did? So, are you dating?”</p><p>“I don’t know yet. We didn’t get to talk about it.”</p><p>“Do you want to date him?”</p><p>“I think maybe I do. He’s very nice and he seems to care a lot about me, and it’s a nice bonus that he’s really pretty.”</p><p>“Be sure to tell him that when you do talk about it.”</p><p>“I will. If it’s alright can I have the day off tomorrow? I hate to leave you shorthanded, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle that after tonight.”</p><p>“Of course, you can. Whatever you need after those events, you can have.”</p><p>“Thank you, Uncle. You’re the best.”</p><p>“You’re welcome.”</p><p> </p><p>The next time Zuko saw Sokka was in school. Sokka, as usual, was happy to see him, “Hey, Zuko.”</p><p>“Hey, Sokka,” Zuko responded, just as happy to see his best friend.</p><p>“We should talk later.”</p><p>“I agree. After school?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Perfect.”</p><p>The bell rang and the pair went off to class, not saying another word about it. Everything was perfectly normal, perfectly fine, and after school they took a walk to the nearby park and found a quiet place to sit and talk. Zuko didn’t have to be back at the tea shop right away, but he did have to work so he couldn’t go too far.</p><p>“I kissed you because I really like you,” Sokka said, quickly, breaking the silence.</p><p>Zuko smiled, he was going to say something nice, but instead couldn’t help himself before saying “And here I thought it was just the emotional trauma.”</p><p>“You should leave the jokes to me, Zuko.”</p><p>“Aww c’mon, I’m allowed to make one,” Zuko said, taking Sokka’s hand. “I really like you too.”</p><p>“So, are we dating now?”</p><p>“Well that depends, do you think you can stand having me around you all the time?”</p><p>Sokka smiled, “Yeah, I think I can manage that”</p><p>“Okay, but I’m warning you Sokka, you’re the first person I’ve kissed and it felt. . . nice and I’m going to need lots of kisses.”</p><p>“I can definitely do that,” Sokka said, leaning in to kiss Zuko.</p><p> </p><p>When they were about to part Zuko knew he needed to go to work but he didn’t want to leave Sokka just yet. “If you’re not busy I’m sure Uncle would love to see you again. I have to work.”</p><p>“Of course. I love your uncle’s tea.”</p><p>Zuko took Sokka’s hand and they went to the tea shop, Iroh was pleased to see them hand in hand as they walked in. “Hello boys, I assume your discussion went well,” Iroh said.</p><p>“Yes,” Zuko said, “it did. We’re dating.”</p><p>“Amazing! Oh, I’m so glad to hear it. You two will be very good for each other. Sokka, take a seat and I’ll make you a cup of your favorite.”</p><p>“I knew you two were gonna start dating.” They ended up sitting next to Toph and Badge.</p><p>“You know too much,” Zuko teased.</p><p>“I know everything,” Toph said.</p><p>“You sure seem to.”</p><p>“It’s a gift.”</p><p>“I have a feeling that Badge is just feeding you information,” Zuko replied.</p><p>Toph gasped. “Badge, they found out our secret.”</p><p>“Of course, I did. No twelve-year-old could be that intuitive. Your dog is wise beyond his years, it had to be Badge”</p><p>“So, when did you two get together?” Toph asked.</p><p>“This afternoon officially,” Sokka told her.</p><p>“Oh, I thought it would’ve happened sooner.”</p><p>“It took a complete breakdown at my father’s house but hey, everyone needs a little nudge in the right direction sometimes” Zuko added.</p><p>“How. . . Romantic?”</p><p>“It wasn’t but that’s fine, because we have all the time in the world to make up for romantics”</p><p>After Sokka left the tea shop, Zuko texted Azula because if she found out he was dating Sokka from anyone else, Azula would kill him.</p><p>“Well, it’s about time. I don’t think I could stand seeing you pine after him for another day without killing both of you myself,” Azula texted back.</p><p>“You’re one to talk.”</p><p>“What are you talking about?”</p><p>“I’m not the only one who was hiding my feelings for best friend.”</p><p>“Zuko, you know how much I hate implying, say what you have to say or don’t say anything at all.”</p><p>“Tell Ty Lee how you feel, Azula.”</p><p>“She’s my best friend. I care about her as much as I care about you, Zuzu. She knows I don’t have to remind her.”</p><p>“. . . That’s it? As much as your care about me?”</p><p>“Yes. That’s it.”</p><p>“Okay, Azula,” Zuko said. Did she really not see it?</p><p>“Anyway, enjoy your boyfriend, I’ll see you at school tomorrow. I have to get this homework done before Ty Lee gets here. See you.” Azula texted before putting her phone down to concentrate.</p>
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